For patients with vitiligo, sequential dermoscopy is useful in determining disease activity and potential for repigmentation in localized vitiligo, according to a study published in Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research. Noting that data on the relationship between dermoscopic features of vitiligo and disease activity is limited, Keshavamurthy Vinay, MD, DNB, MNAMS, MRCP, FRCP, and colleagues assessed the correlation in a cohort of patients with vitiligo patches who were receiving medical therapy and underwent dermoscopic and sequential clinical exams every 4 weeks for 16 weeks. At each visit, disease activity was evaluated via modified vitiligo activity severity index and serial clinical photographs. Two blinded dermatologists analyzed merged dermoscopic images for a predefined set of dermoscopic parameters. The study team performed paired analysis of dermoscopic features and stabilized vitiligo patches between baseline and at 12 and 16 weeks. Active vitiligo was linked with ill-defined margins, perifollicular depigmentation, pigment network changes, and satellite lesions and micro-Koebner phenomenon. Stabilizing and repigmenting vitiligo were associated with perifollicular repigmentation. At non-acral sites exclusively, perifollicular repigmentation evoked stabilized/ repigmenting disease.
